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New report reveals child undernutrition cost the PNG economy up to $1.5 billion in a single year

Almost half of all Papua New Guinean children have stunted growth from chronic malnutrition and it is taking an enormous toll on the country’s economy, new research has revealed.

A ground-breaking new report by Save the Children and Frontier Economics has found that child undernutrition cost the PNG economy up to $USD 1.5 billion in a single year (FY 2015-16), representing 8.45 percent of its gross domestic product.

Save the Children’s Head of Policy, Majella Hurney, said PNG has some of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world, and the fourth highest stunting rate for children under five. Frontier Economics estimates malnutrition could be the underlying cause of up to 76% of deaths of children under five, well above the global average of 45%.

“While many Australians are aware of high rates of child malnutrition in Africa, it is less widely known that our nearest neighbour in the region is also facing a nutrition crisis,” Ms Hurney said.

“Not only does malnutrition pose a threat to the survival of children in PNG, it also poses a major threat to sustainable economic growth. If a child is malnourished during the first 1000 days of their life – from the time of conception to their second birthday – they will suffer cognitive and physical impairments that are permanent and irreversible,” she said.

“These impairments limit a child’s education and employment prospects. Reduced individual earnings translate into reduced economic productivity at the national level. This is how malnutrition can trap children in an intergenerational cycle of poverty.”

Ms Hurney added that food insecurity was not the core driver of such high child malnutrition rates. Rather, low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, and poor water, sanitation and hygiene practices contribute to a high prevalence of diseases such as diarrhoea, which cause and exacerbate child malnutrition.

Ms Hurney said while the Australian Government is the largest bilateral donor to PNG, latest available data indicates that only 0.1% of its overseas development assistance to the nation was allocated to nutrition.

“The Government of Papua New Guinea is taking positive steps to improve child nutrition, but it cannot tackle a challenge of this scale alone. There is an urgent need for donors, such as Australia, to reallocate technical and financial assistance to support targeted interventions to improve child nutrition,” Ms Hurney said.

“Our report shows that nutrition interventions have comparatively high economic and social returns on investment. It is critical to invest in human development as a foundation for inclusive and sustainable economic development. Otherwise, malnutrition will continue to undermine the great human and economic potential of our nearest neighbour.”

Read the full report – Short Changed: The Human and Economic Cost of Child Undernutrition in Papua New Guinea at https://www.savethechildren.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/228492/PNG-Nutrition-Report.pdf

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Tom Arup on 0402482910.